No All Star game? You are suspended….

for one game….. i guess this became a rule last February that Gary Bettman told all of the team GM’s.

Here is the story:

The decision by Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom to bow out of Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game left a hole in the Western Conference roster, which lacks a player from the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings.

Now it will be up the Red Wings management to find replacements for the duo when the season resumes. Dastyuk and Lidstrom will be forced to sit out when the Red Wings travel to Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, NHL’s senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said Friday.

“This is a policy that everyone is aware of, including all the (general) managers and teams,” Campbell said. “Detroit is aware that this is a blanket policy.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the new rule at a general managers meeting last February, Campbell said. Under the policy, a player has to miss either the game before the All-Star Game or the one immediately following if he elects not participate in the exhibition.

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It is a rule and they have to sit but man they could use the days off. It rally should be the decision of the players.